When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to Jobab king
of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the
Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor
on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the
Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the
hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number
like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and
chariots. And all these kings joined their forces and came and
encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for
tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to
Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots
with fire.” So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against
them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. And the LORD gave
them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as
far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the
Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none
remaining. And Joshua did to them just as the LORD said to him: he
hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck
its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all
those kingdoms. And they struck with the sword all who were in it,
devoting them to destruction; there was none left that breathed.
And he burned Hazor with fire. And all the cities of those kings,
and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge
of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the
servant of the LORD had commanded. But none of the cities that
stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua
burned. And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the
people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they
struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them,
and they did not leave any who breathed. Just as the LORD had
commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so
Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had
commanded Moses.
So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb
and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the
hill country of Israel and its lowland from Mount Halak, which
rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon
below Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings and struck them
and put them to death. Joshua made war a long time with all those
kings. There was not a city that made peace with the people of
Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took
them all in battle. For it was the LORD's doing to harden their
hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order
that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no
mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill
country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill
country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua
devoted them to destruction with their cities. There was none of
the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza,
in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. So Joshua took the whole
land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And
Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their
tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.
